by Isaac Harris
After starting the season as one of the conference’s sweet surprises, George Mason finished the regular season with a 23-8 overall record & an 11-7 conference record. The Green & Gold were off to an extremely hot start early in the season with the best start in school history with winning over 20 games and getting big non conference wins such as Ohio & Florida Atlantic before entering a competitive conference schedule. Despite a 4-game skid, and few out of character losses, the Patriots showed in the regular season finale that they may have some kryptonite after beating tournament favorite and Number 1 seed Saint Louis in a dominant fashion 86-57.
Regular Season Recap
Newcomers Kory Mincy, Riley Allenspach, and Jahari Long have stepped up all season as leaders of “Team 60’s” edition of “ Patriot Pressure” after returning starter and preseason all Atlantic 10 Brayden O’Conner suffered a season ending foot injury. Mincy & Allenspach lead in scoring for the Patriots this season averaging 14.3 points and 16.3 points. Additionally, the Patriots have solid contributions from freshman big man Emmanual Kanga & graduate player Fatt Hill. GMU this season had one of the more stronger performances defensively this season with a Defense remained one of the program’s biggest strengths. Opponents shot 41.7% percent from the field against them this year.
Tournament Path
Unlike last year’s team, finishing with the second seed and a double bye, this year’s Patriots team earned the 5th seed and once again avoided the pillow fight and awaited the winner of LaSalle vs St. Bonaventure in the first round game. Last year’s team used the double bye advantage to meet VCU in an all-time great championship game that went down to the wire in Washington DC. This year in Pittsburgh is a much harder path as the 5th seed with four games in four days.
Here is the best case scenario for George Mason for the path to the Championship Sunday:
- Beat La Salle / St. Bonaventure
- Upsets Dayton
- Pulls a semifinal upset vs Saint Louis
Although it seems like a tall task, in the history of the conference it’s possible for a lower seed to run the table. Duquese captured the 2024 A-10 Championship as 7 seed in Brooklyn with a great run of momentum in the tournament and stole the auto bid. The Green & Gold right now currently have momentum on their side with an impressive win over Saint Louis along with being battle tested in close games across the season.
The ball bounces funny this time of year and the Patriots are very familiar with its comedic actions being the ring leader “Cinderella” and as well as being fooled “Upset”. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Mason comes to Pittsburgh with surprise pranks featuring its signature kryptonite mentality and fools the 2026 A-10 Championship.